FROM

But just like that, oryxes and their fascinating biological traits were
wiped out by hunters—it was reported the last survivors were killed off in
1987 in Chad’s Wadi Achim Faunal Reserve. Since there had been no confirmed
evidence of the survival of the species since the early 1990s, they were
declared extinct in the wild by 2000.

That was before Friends of Animals became a beacon of hope for the oryx
back in 1999, when the organization helped facilitate the return of the
scimitar horned oryxes to their Sahelian habitat in Senegal, marking a
historical project of faith, compassion and planning. It is with great pride
the organization can say that today 350 oryxes thrive within two expansive,
fenced, fully-protected reserves (4,693 acres) —Guembeul Faunal Reserve and
Ferlo Reserve—re-establishing a presence in their African homeland.

Oryxes at Guembeul Faunal Reserve in Senegal

It took scimitar-horned oryxes hundreds of years to evolve to the point
of being fine-tuned to their African savannah habitat, an environment most
creatures would find unbearable.

They developed a metabolism that functions at high temperatures so they
need less water for evaporation to help conduct heat away from the bodies,
enabling them to go for long periods without water.

They can allow their body temperatures to rise to almost 115.7 degrees
Fahrenheit before beginning to perspire. And the inside of their nose is
like a car radiator—when they breathe they remove heat from their blood
before it reaches the brain. This feature, called carotid rete, protects
them from heat that would be lethal to most mammals.

But just like that, oryxes and their fascinating biological traits were
wiped out by hunters—it was reported the last survivors were killed off in
1987 in Chad’s Wadi Achim Faunal Reserve. Since there had been no confirmed
evidence of the survival of the species since the early 1990s, they were
declared extinct in the wild by 2000.

“That humans could come along and kill them all is a crime; not just
against the individual animals, but against nature itself,” said
conservationist Bill Clark. People in Africa were left to read about oryxes
in the journals of 19th century explorers, who wrote about seeing herds
stretching to the distant horizon and beyond.

That was before Friends of Animals became a beacon of hope for the oryx
back in 1999, when the organization helped facilitate the return of the
scimitar horned oryxes to their Sahelian habitat in Senegal, marking a
historical project of faith, compassion and planning. It is with great pride
the organization can say that today 350 oryxes thrive within two expansive,
fenced, fully-protected reserves (4,693 acres) —Guembeul Faunal Reserve and
Ferlo Reserve—re-establishing a presence in their African homeland.

The ultimate goal is for them to live in protected freedom one day;
certainly they are reproducing enough for that to happen. However, it is
several years off due to lack of viable habitat outside of the reserves. An
unrestricted meat economy, where the size of cattle herds is counted as the
most important measure of a family’s wealth, has resulted in overgrazing and
ecological ruin in the Sahel, much like America’s public lands out west.

Seeing hundreds of oryxes in their ancient habitat during a recent visit
to Senegal was beyond gratifying for Priscilla Feral, president of Friends
of Animals, who recalled that the project started with just eight adolescent
oryxes delivered from a captive population living at the Hai Bar Animal and
Nature Reserve in Israel.

“We visited Guembeul, one of the lovely reserves in November 2016, and
after seeing so much land in northern Senegal saturated with goat and cow
grazing, it’s rewarding to see antelopes and patas monkeys protected in the
reserve where they don’t have to compete with animal farming for grasses and
water, and are never subject to hunters,” Feral said.

“In January 2012, when I was interviewed for ‘60 Minutes,’ and Lara Logan
asked if it were better to have scimitar-horned oryxes exist in Texas on
hunting ranches if they can’t live free in Africa, I explained that they
belong in Africa; that Friends of Animals initiated and supports a steadily
increasing oryx population in Senegal and that these antelopes thrive on
thousands of acres within protected reserves. I also said that being bred in
Texas for the degrading and violent purpose of being killed to be turned
into a wall ornament is no bargain.”

Another person delighted by the success of the return of oryxes to
Senegal is Clark, who was working with Israel’s Nature and National Parks
Protection Authority at the time of the transfer and who helped train
several Senegalese park officials in animal nutrition and veterinary
techniques before the animals arrived in Africa.

Clark represents Israel at UN wildlife meetings and works on numerous
international conservation projects. He knows better than anyone the
challenges the oryxes faced when they were first re-introduced: adjusting to
drinking local, untreated unfiltered water; adjusting to feeding on local
vegetation; and adjusting to the numerous nuisances and illnesses that
naturally exist in Africa, such as flies, mosquitos, beetles and other
insects that sting and bite and sometimes transmit pathogens.

“The project in Senegal has been so successful. We have the numbers—the
proof of the pudding is in the tasting as they say,” Clark said. “We have
350 oryxes in Senegal and the project is less than 20 years old. We taught
the Senegalese how to take care of these animals, and the lesson was
properly learned.” Clark explained that the most important lesson he taught
the Senegalese was to take a hands-off approach with the oryxes and “just
leave them alone.”

“A lot of reintroduction projects involve frequently handling the
animals. People put radio collars on them, and take blood from them every
three weeks, they do this and that, all kinds of manipulations. And then
they wonder why the animals aren’t reproducing so very well,” Clark
explained.

“Well they are stressed out half of the time because they’ve got humans
following them around. They’re looking over their shoulder because there’s a
guy with a radio receiver in his hand following him all over the place.

“The best thing to do is leave them at peace, monitor them from a
distance and only make interventions when it’s really necessary. The
Senegalese have a very enviable accomplishment. Their record stands very
well when compared to other endangered species recovery projects.

For example, the California condor project started in 1982 with 23 birds,
and now there are 410. And the black-footed ferret project started in 1986
with 13 and now there are about 300 in the wild. The big difference being
the condor and ferret projects benefited from millions of dollars in funding
and enormous technical expertise.”

But relatively speaking, Clark says, the oryx project in Senegal has
operated on a shoestring budget. “People shy away from reintroduction
because of the expense. But the success of this project proves these
projects can be done. Here the biggest expense is wire fencing—two dollars a
foot. You can have as much land as you can fence.”

While it is typical to think of fencing as an enclosure, in terms of the
oryx project the fencing serves as an enclosure keep the cattle and other
livestock out. “We have our habitat and we want to exclude them from that to
preserve it,” Clark said.

More fencing to enlarge the reserves to approximately 50 square miles is
what Clark envisions for the oryx project to have continued success. He
would like to see buffer areas around the edge of the reserves negotiated as
well. Buffer areas would be restricted to very limited numbers of livestock,
so more habitat could recover.

“Seeds from the prairie grass will spread beyond the wire fence, and if it
doesn’t get gobbled up by cattle and goats right away, it will sprout and
regenerate and in about three years it could be restored to a large part,”
Clark said. “Of course it would be nice to see oryxes with no fencing
someday, however there just isn’t enough habitat for them. So then why
release them out into the Sahel.” Clark also sees incorporating local people
into the future plans of the oryx project by teaching them to grow
productive vegetable gardens and discouraging their reliance on cattle-based
economies.

“The local community has to understand the benefits of improving their
own landscapes, which will inevitably improve their quality of life,” he
said. Lastly Clark said he hopes some new young males from a captive
population can be introduced into the project to ensure there is no risk of
a genetic bottleneck down the road. None of these efforts will happen
overnight or be simple.

However, FoA and Clark know they are worth the time and investment to
rescue oryxes from extinction. “Simply put, oryxes deserve it,” he says.
“They were hunted to extinction, mostly for trophies. Hunters just killed
them off. Every last one of them.” Standing at about four feet at shoulder
height and weighing up to 440 pounds, the Scimitar is an impressive species
of oryx. Its distinctive arc-shaped horns are used to give a swift upper cut
when predators attack, but they are also used during courtship. p>

Interestingly, it is believed that the unicorn myth may have originated
from sightings of a scimitar oryx with a broken horn. “They may look alike
but each one is truly and individual. They are thinking all the time. They
are wonderful,” Clark said.

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